What Needed To Be Said
by Kitsilver
Summary: Suikoden V  A mere hour before their meeting with the queen, what is it that's needed to be said between Lyon and the  prince?


Disclaimer: I don't own Suikoden 5

Author's note: Takes place after the good ending where you choose to stay with Lym, shortly before the prince and Lyon see Lym in the audience chamber. Minor revisions 7/30/08. Thanks for the help, Wolf, and to Tacti for beta'ing.

What Needed To Be Said

Soft afternoon light filtered through the window by her bed. Lyon let her hair loose as she walked to the window and tidied the black locks as she took in the view. Below, soldiers patrolled the castle walls. Commoners walked side by side with nobles, all going or coming to an audience with the Queen or a meeting for the new Parliament. In the distance, the gentle rolling hills were dotted with sheep and horses. And beyond that, just below the setting sun, the white sails of several ships flapped briskly as they crossed the blue sea.

Georg should be on one of those ships, she thought. She and the prince had said their goodbyes to him a few hours before. He'd told them to take care of Lym, that even though she was a queen, she was still a little girl and would need her brother and friends. He had given her a dagger, complete with an ornate red and gold sheath that matched her own sword, and told her to keep protecting the prince, and to take care of herself as well. He'd put his hand on the prince's head and messed his hair as Ferid used to, saying how proud his father would be to see him now. Then he had done something strange. He had grinned and hugged them both, then winked at the prince and said,

"You better treat her right, Frey." Frey had turned bright red and punched Georg in the short ribs with a furious hiss of,

"Georg!" Georg had only laughed and rubbed his sore side, then messed Frey's hair again.

She still didn't know what that was about. They had been talking before she had arrived to see Georg off, and whatever they were saying had Georg laughing and shaking his head, then winking at her when she trotted up. That was a bit unnerving, seeing him wink from the eye that had been covered by the eye patch until recently. She had shot Frey a questioning glance, but when he avoided her look she just shrugged it off. She didn't have anything to be embarrassed about where the prince was concerned. Nothing that Georg would know about, at least.

Lyon went to the armoire and changed into her new uniform, then checked her appearance in the full length mirror in the corner of her room. She had lost some weight from being wounded and having to stay abed, and she was glad to see that she had gained some of it back, was even a bit more tanned from all the outdoor work of the past few days. The black jacket, tied with a pink ribbon and edged with gold trim, fit her well. So did the wide, gold covered belt and the loose fitting black pants that tapered neatly into gold crossed boots.

Seeing herself in the uniform of a full Queen's Knight brought home just how much had happened in the last few months. The uprising and war had left their mark on the country and almost everyone within it. Whole villages had been destroyed, many had died, and countless others had their lives changed forever. But there was hope, too. As a result of the war and their victory, they were finally on friendly terms with New Armes and had the attention and respect of other nations. The dissolution of the Senate and formation of the Parliament would give different peoples a chance to represent themselves in government policy and tie Falena together as it had never been before.

Change had happened on a personal level too. Lyon was not the same person she had been before the war, nor were her feelings for the prince. She had been surprised when she finally realized what that feeling was, though looking back she could see the signs. It was there along with the pride she had felt when she watched him lead the army. It was there when she had felt his grief for his parents' death that night in Lunas when she had found him alone, looking up at the stars with tears streaming silently down his cheeks, and instead of walking away and leaving him alone, she had stood beside him. It was there in the way he made her laugh and feel at ease as no one else could, make her content just being with him to talk about the events of the day, and in the bittersweet ache she sometimes felt when she was alone with him, a strange mix of sadness and longing that she hadn't understood.

But those feelings didn't change anything. He was still the prince, the friend she had sworn to protect. No matter how romantic the stories made it seem, the undying love between a knight and his royal lady was no more than that, a story. Custom decreed that only a noble could marry another noble, and while marriages like that between Ferid and Arshtat did happen, they weren't the norm. And even if it were acceptable, Frey had said and done nothing that indicated he thought of her as anything but a friend. If that were all she could be to him, that's all she would be, she told herself firmly. Being at his side was enough. The rest of the world might have changed, but nothing had really changed between them.

Even now that she loved him.

A short knock interrupted her thoughts. She opened the door and her eyes widened in surprise. Then she smiled, her somber mood lifted.

"Prince, I wasn't expecting you." She gestured for him to come inside, and after he shut the door she led him to the window for better light.

He was dressed formally for his audience with the Queen and his new uniform fit him well. His newly cut hair fell just above his shoulder, silver locks tied back with a broad black headband emblazoned with the gold crest of the Falenan Knights. A black tunic with broad shoulders and high collar fit well over the crisp white shirt beneath. The wide gold belt hugged his trim waist and baggy black trousers fit into boots crossed with gold trimmed laces. He looked every inch the Commander of the Queen's Knights, she thought with pride, and handsome too…he was also staring right back at her, brow arched in amusement.

Lyon flushed when she met his eyes, realizing that she'd said nothing while she stared at him. "Sorry," she said sheepishly, "guess I'm not used to the new uniform yet."

"Neither am I," he said dryly. "I see this in the mirror and expect to see my father. It's only a bit different than what I used to wear, isn't it?" She grinned at that.

"Well, you have nothing to worry about. You look like a fine Commander of the Queen's Knights."

Frey brushed an unruly silver lock from his face and smiled back at her. "The uniform looks rather good on you too, though I suppose I should take a better look to be sure."

He rubbed his chin thoughtfully and made a show of surveying her as intently as she had him, looking her up and down and making a slow turn around her. She sighed with mock annoyance, but humored him with a regal pose.

Only the moment stretched on longer than expected, and the mood between them changed. She could hear her heart beating louder and louder in her ears, felt it skip a beat when he faced her once again. His expressive blue eyes were now dark and opaque, letting her see nothing of his thoughts.

"Well?" she said to fill the silence.

"You look like a fine Queen's Knight," he murmured. "And you are beautiful."

Lyon's jaw dropped and she was fairly certain she was gaping like a fish. "What?"

He shook his head and looked away. "Wait, I didn't mean to say that." He looked back at her and she must have looked as confused as she felt because he hastened to add, "I mean I didn't mean to say it, but that doesn't mean I didn't mean it."

_Well, _that_ certainly cleared things up_. Lyon shot him a bemused look.

"Damnit. I'm really not good at this," she heard him mutter beneath his breath, and then he gestured to the bed. "Will you sit and listen to me for a few minutes?"

She nodded and sat on the bed. He paced for a moment, lost in thought, then stopped and faced her.

"I know there's only an hour before we're due to meet Lym, but there's something I have to ask you. And no," he said at her half raised brow, "it couldn't have waited till after the audience."

Lyon smiled, amused by how easily he could read her thoughts and how unusually...boyish he seemed.

"First of all, I'd like you to stop calling me Prince. I know you know my real name," he said.

"That's the big question? You want me to stop calling you Prince?"

"Well that's one of them. We've known each other for a long time; I should have asked you to use my given name before this." She opened her mouth when he added, "And don't try to say it wouldn't have been proper, because I wouldn't have cared."

Damn, that was exactly what she had been about to say. "But it's still not proper," she insisted. "You are the Queen's brother and Commander of the Queen's Knights. As one of your Knights it wouldn't do for me to call you by your given name. You'd have to be Lord Frey at least."

He groaned and shot her a pained glance. "Lord? Not from you too, Lyon. Since we've come back to Sol-Falena, everyone is calling me Lord this and Lord and while bowing left and right. I think I preferred it when I was just 'Prince', and there wasn't as much bowing and scraping."

She chuckled at his disgruntlement and his eyes smiled back at her, though he kept up the 'I-am-royally-annoyed' demeanor.

"Besides, my mother called my father by his first name."

"Your mother, the Queen_, _was your father's wife," Lyon reminded him. "And she outranked him. I'm neither of those to you."

"Georg called him by his given name as well," the prince replied smugly.

Lyon rolled her eyes, but her smile betrayed her amusement. "In private then, I can use your real name. But in a formal audience, I have to call you Prince or Your Highness. It's just how it has to be between a knight and her commander."

His eyes gleamed with triumph. "You drive a hard bargain, my lady, and I'll accept it, but won't promise you I'll accept it forever."

She laughed at him, enjoying the familiar banter between them. It was worth the little ache coming from the direction of her heart. "And you, my prince, are quite silly at times."

"I think it drove Mother crazy when Father was the same way," Frey confessed with a grin. "So you can blame this side of me entirely on him."

They shared a smile, and then he walked to her and knelt so that their eyes were level. Her mirth quieted when she looked at his serious face and she waited for him to say whatever it was he'd come to say.

"The real reason I had to see you was that I had to tell you something. And it's hard for me to put into words, so I just need you to listen to everything before you ask anything in turn." At her nod, he continued. "We've known each other for years, haven't we? Ever since Father brought you to the palace you've been like one of the family. We trained together, grew up together, even fought one another." One side of his mouth quirked up in a smile. "I seem to remember getting beaten up at least once…"

She arched a brow and fought a losing battle against a smile. "And I seem to remember a certain nine year old boy telling me not to hold back on him."

Frey chuckled and shook his head ruefully. "I had that black eye for more than a week. Remind me of that the next time I ask you to hit me."

Then his gaze softened. "You were always by my side. Even when the castle was overthrown, when Mother and Father died, you were there beside me. Everything was changing around me and you were the only part of my life I could depend on. You were my friend and comrade, the woman I could trust to always be by my side. Then you almost died saving me…and even that changed."

He paused, and she exhaled the breath she didn't realize she'd been holding. "I didn't know if you were alive or dead." He said, his eyes searching hers. "Sialeeds was taking Lym, our hopes of a quick end to the war were falling to pieces, and all I could think about was you. Protecting you, even though it was my fault you were hurt in the first place."

Bitterness and anger hung on the last words. She could see that he had blamed himself for her injury, maybe blamed himself still, and she wanted to tell him it was all right. It had been her choice, and duty hadn't been the reason she had pushed him out of the way and taken the strike meant for him. But she had promised to keep silent until he finished, so all she did was take his hand in hers.

"Then afterwards, knowing I was losing you and feeling like there was nothing I could do, I felt something crazy inside of me. Rage or fear or panic, I don't even know, maybe simple need. But I think that's what the Dawn Rune responded to and how it saved your life. After that, making you wake up was foremost in my mind. Not the war, not the many other lives that had been lost or hurt that day, not even Lym. All I could think about was you. Lucretia was right when she said that you were not the only person hurt that day and acting to help you alone might not have gone well with the others. But I didn't care. I was going to do whatever I had to do to save you, the rest of the war be damned."

His words were quiet, but filled with a fervor she had never heard from her gentle prince. And when the meaning of his words hit her…she couldn't really believe it. She had fought beside him and knew what the war meant to him. She knew how much he worried for his sister and mourned for all those lost, but stayed strong and composed so the others wouldn't lose hope. He had bled and fought for what he believed was right and for the family and country he loved. Yet in that moment, he would have given it all up to save her. That was just crazy. But when she looked into his eyes, she knew he was telling the truth, and a lump rose in her throat at that realization.

"Then seeing you wake…" He paused and gently caressed her cheek. "I can't remember feeling happier. Miakis was jumping around and laughing, remember?" Lyon nodded, feeling tears burning the back of her eyes.

"That's how I felt too," he continued. "I didn't realize I would miss you so much. While you were unconscious, and even after you woke but had to stay in bed, I'd look for you without even knowing. When I woke up every day, it would take me a minute to realize you wouldn't be there to say good morning. When I fought I'd look beside me, expecting to see you there fighting with me. When I saw something new and interesting, like those water steps in the dragon lair, I'd want to share it with you. But you weren't there."

Tears were leaking from Lyon's eyes and she couldn't stop them. It was as if she could feel his pain and it hurt her too, but she could feel the other emotion underlying it. "Prince, I'm so sorry- I don't know why I'm crying-"

Frey laughed a little, his own eyes shining with moisture, and tenderly wiped the tears from her cheeks. "It's Frey, Lyon."

"Frey," Lyon whispered and held his hand with her own.

"I didn't understand why I felt that way," he said, his voice filled with bewilderment. "You were always my friend and partner. That was it, right? So why did I feel like something was missing when you weren't there? Any why did nothing feel right until you were by my side again? I couldn't answer any of this, but at that time I thought it was enough that you were with me again. There would be time to figure it out when the war was over. So I said nothing to you."

He bowed his head, his hair falling over his eyes. "When Marscal was defeated and the war was finally over, I felt so relieved. You reached for my hand, or I reached for yours, and it felt like for the first time in a long while, I could just smile again. Then you collapsed." His voice broke and his shoulders shook with silent grief. Alarmed, Lyon got to her knees beside him and hugged him hard.

"It's okay," she whispered. "It's okay."

"No," he said fiercely as he raised his head to look at her, and her heart went out to him when she saw the terrible pain in his eyes. "You were _dying_, Lyon. I was holding you, but it wasn't enough. I could feel you fading away and there was nothing…_nothing_ I could do about it. I think I knew the exact moment that you died, and when you did, I wanted to die too."

She reached forward and hugged him again. He held her tightly, then gently drew her away from him so he could look at her tear stained face.

"That's when I realized the truth," he said softly. "That I was lost without you. That all of this, everything that we'd done to win the war and bring back peace, meant so little without you. But it was too late; you were gone before I had the chance to tell you."

Tears were falling from his eyes as freely as they were from hers.

_What is it that you needed to tell me? _

Deep down she knew what he was saying, and that knowledge filled her with warmth that slowly began to wash away the bittersweet pain in her heart. But she still needed to hear the words.

"Then when you came back...I couldn't even say it then. Just seeing you open your eyes again, knowing that you were alive, all I could do was look at you." Frey did just that, brushing the hair from her face and caressing her cheek. "At how beautiful and amazing you were. And how incredibly lucky I was to have another chance. I couldn't say it then, I probably knew that if I tried I'd just start crying, and how manly is that?" He grinned past the tears, and she choked on her laughter as she brushed the tears from his cheeks.

"So I waited for the perfect moment, wondering what I would say and how I would say it and when. Only the perfect moment never came. We were all so busy after the end of the war with Lym's coronation, my appointment to Commander, your Knighting ceremony, Georg leaving. I could never get you alone and away from everyone else, and the waiting was driving me mad. The second I realized how stupid it was to wait any longer, I came here."

"An hour before our official audience with your sister?" Lyon smiled.

He laughed quietly and took her hand, leaning close until they were only inches apart. "Yes, less than an hour by now actually. It's the perfect time to say what I've needed to say."

Her heart thumped loudly and she swallowed past a throat gone suddenly dry. "And what is it that you needed to say?" she said.

"I love you, Lyon." He raised her hand to his lips and kissed it, then reached up and kissed her forehead. "I love you."

He stopped for a moment and just looked at her, a gentle smile on his face. "And I wanted to ask you, Lyon…if you love me too?"

_Yes._

Lyon closed her eyes, overwhelmed by the flood of emotions rushing through her. She'd loved him even knowing that custom looked down on such a match and believing that nothing would ever come of her feelings. For him to love her in return… She couldn't speak past the knot in her throat. Couldn't possibly tell him in words how much she loved him.

"Lyon?"

So she leaned forward and kissed him.

"Is that a yes?" Frey asked when they separated, his eyes dancing with laughter.

Lyon laughed loudly and lunged at him, eliciting a grunt of surprise a second before they toppled to the floor. She lay on top of him and wrapped her arms around him.

"Yes, Frey, I love you too."

"Glad to hear it. I was worried when you didn't say anything."

She looked at him with a raised brow. "You really can't expect someone to respond quickly after something like that, you know. Besides, you're not complaining are you?"

His chest rumbled with laughter beneath her. "Gods, no. I was a little surprised," he said, his voice laced with humor, "but I wouldn't mind if you did that more often."

She chuckled and drew closer to him. They lay there for several moments, Lyon still marveling at what had just happened and at all that Frey had said, amazed that his feelings mirrored her own. Since he felt the same way, it didn't matter what their different stations were or what the rest of the world might think. They would find a way to be together.

Then she realized she also had something to say and raised her head to look at him. "Frey, there's something I wanted to tell you too."

"Hmm?" He looked up at her inquisitively.

"And can you not say anything until I'm done?"

He nodded, and after a deep breath, she told him what she needed to say. "At first, protecting you was my duty, one that I took seriously because I wanted to thank your father for rescuing me from Nether Gate. But that changed. Your family made me feel like one of its own, taught me what it meant to feel cherished and safe. You could always make me laugh and I always felt comfortable with you. You had become more than a duty, you were a friend I cared for and swore to protect. That's why I didn't like seeing you fight; I didn't want to see you hurt.

"My feelings changed when we fought the war. I watched you lead the army in battle and fight in duels, and I knew that you would be all right. I realized that I didn't have to protect you anymore, but that I wanted to. I wanted to stay by your side, help you reach the goal you worked so hard for, and to be here with you through it all. I felt other things too, things I couldn't explain. But all I knew was that I wanted to be with you, that the world didn't feel right without you. I think that's when I knew that what I felt for you was more than duty or friendship, I loved you. More than anything else in my life, I loved you."

She drew to a stop, a flush high in her cheeks. She didn't have to make that confession, but after everything he'd said she wanted him to know her feelings in return. Frey looked at her silently, expressionless, one brow cocked after a few moment's silence.

"That's pretty much it," she said.

"Ah," he said. Then he smiled, and Lyon felt a surge of warmth in her heart at the tender look in his eyes. There was no way for her to see that his expression was a match for her own.

"Lyon."

"Yes?"

"Thank you," Frey said, and she looked at him in question. "Thank you for loving me."

This time he leaned forward and captured her lips with his, kissing her deeply as they lay on her bedroom floor. She kissed him back, forgetting about the wrinkles that were forming on their new uniforms and the meeting with the queen that was supposed to take place in much less than an hour. The only person that mattered was holding her in his arms at that moment.

And that's all that needed to be said.


End file.
